Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was alone. Stuck outside the door with his mother ignoring his desperate pounding on the door; his begging for her to let him back in.

He was cold. It was winter when she gave up on him when she finally listened to everyone around them and decided that it wasn’t worth having a quirkless child.

Izuku was left outside without a coat or shoes, his mother had asked him to get something from the letterbox, pretending that there was something there to trick him outside without anything for protection from the weather, so he would die quicker, so he would stop being a burden to her sooner. 

It didn’t take long before he began losing feeling in his fingers and toes, his flimsy t-shirt and jeans offering no protection to his extremities. He soon left the apartment building, attempting to find somewhere to go, somewhere where he could stay until the snow stopped falling. 

When he first left the building, his hot breath formed clouds of mist in the air before him, the freezing air stinging his lungs, but as he stumbled towards the park near his home, the air felt warmer to him and his breath began cooling, no longer forming steam in the air.

The park felt safe to him, even though it was where he’d finally lost his first - and only - friend, because it was the one place where people did not always look at him with pity, the one place where not everyone knew he was quirkless, unlike his school, apartment building or anywhere else where the people he knew went. Kacchan had stopped going to the park two years before, when they were both eight, saying it was too childish and if it was a place where a useless, quirkless Deku went, he would stay away from it as he didn’t want to be infected by Izuku’s quirklessness.

As he expected, the park was desolate, the snow keeping everyone inside their houses and apartments, so he chose to sit on the swings - something he usually did because there was no reason for him to take up space in the areas where others played with their friends. 

Izuku grasped onto the freezing chains of the swing, lifting his white, blue-tinged feet off the snowy ground, his hands too numb to feel the cold fully. He knew that he should get somewhere warm and safe, but that there was nowhere for him to go to. The library that he went to when he needed to leave the house was closed and anywhere else was closed due to the snowstorm sweeping the country.

The longer he was outside, the warmer he felt and, again, he knew that he wasn’t getting warmer but rather that he was getting colder. Izuku was tired. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine that he was at home sitting at the table, getting ready to eat with his mother sitting across from him and smiling. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the moon, watching the snow falling from the cloudy sky as he tried to stay awake for as long as possible, knowing the risks of going to sleep out in the open. Eventually, Izuku grew too tired, his eyes fluttering shut as he slumped forward and his body fell off the swing and onto the ground.

As he fell asleep, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t like Shouta meant to find the kid. He had pretty much just stumbled across him on the way back from the twenty-four-hour mart after a patrol. The park wasn’t a place he walked by often but it was the fastest on-foot way back from the end of his evening patrol route if he wanted to stop by the store so it was pure coincidence that he was there to see the kid fall off the swing into the snow. He wasn’t the kind of guy to have strong fatherly instincts but damn if seeing the kid fall didn’t tug at his heart a bit.

Running towards the kid, Shouta looked around to see if he could spot the kid’s guardians or anyone who would be able to tell him about them but his surroundings were void of people, it was only him and the kid. When he reached them, he turned them over, wincing as he looked at their frostbitten fingers and toes as well as their icy arms and legs. Gently, he took off his capture weapon, using it to push the child’s arms towards their body to make it easier for him to carry them and to start warming them up by protecting them from the snow.

He slowly picked the child up, his small bag of groceries still hanging in the crook of his elbow, and held them close in an attempt to warm them up slightly before heading home at a steady jog, knowing that if he sprinted, he’d be out longer than it took to jog back and that damage could be caused to them if he jostled them too much.

The kid was light in his arms, all bony and thin like he’d slowly been forgotten about by whoever was supposed to be looking after him, but he could feel their breath against his neck as he held their face into his shoulder to protect them from the cold. Shouta felt like he was carrying a toddler.

By the time he’d gotten back to his home, the snow had stopped falling and it was getting close to midnight. Shouta heaved out a sign as he got to his front door, preparing for the squeals of his roommate when he revealed the kid he’d brought home.

‘Just for one night.’ He thought, before bending slightly so he could prop up the child on his knees to free up an arm to get his keys from his zipped-up pocket. Fumbling slightly as he shifted the kid back into his arms, Shouta unlocked the door, stepping in and heaving a sigh as he felt the warmth wash over him and the kid.

“Shou-chan!” Shouta winced as he heard his roommate’s voice pierce through the air from the kitchen. He moved over to the sofa in the living room, laying the kid down on top before finding a fluffy blanket he could use to start warming the kid up.

Leaving him alone for a moment, he went to the kitchen to talk to Hizashi. “Want something to drink?” The blond offered, hair tie in his mouth as he gathered up his hair into a bun. “I’ve got tea? Coffee? But that would be bad for you Shou…”

Shouta sighed as his friend trailed off before squeezing his temples and gesturing at the coffee. “Whatever I have doesn’t matter. We have an issue.”

“Ooooh, what kind of issue?” 

He hummed as he walked over to the kettle himself, Hizashi refusing support his ‘incredibly unhealthy caffeine addiction and insomnia’, before settling down to explain it simply.

“Hizashi. We have a kid in the living room. I found him in the park.” He waited a moment for his words to kick in, taking a sip of his far-too-weak-this-tastes-sad-instant-coffee before moving to the laundry basket he left on the table to grab a few socks.

Hizashi’s jaw dropped open and his eyes bulged, lips moving to cry out his friend’s name before his mouth snapped shut as Shouta’s eyes glowed red.

“Didn’t I just say that there is a kid in the living room ?”

Immediately Hizashi brought up his hands to his mouth and began to whisper: “Shouta! What? A kid? Why do you have them?”

Shouta placed the rice-filled socks in the microwave and set it for forty seconds. “I already told you that I found them in the park, idiot. All the hospitals around are closed and it looks like they have frostbite, so it isn’t like I could have brought them there and all the police stations around are closed.” The microwave beeped for a moment before Shouta pulled it open, taking out the socks and checking that they were warm. He turned towards the living room.

“I know you want to see the kid, so can you get a few of the blankets from the cupboard and one of the big t-shirts from our guest clothes? I need to start warming him up.” Shouta called out behind him before moving into the living room.

He could see that the kid had moved slightly, their body most likely reacting to the warm air surrounding them, so they were lying on their side rather than their back. Kneeling beside them, he placed the makeshift heating pads on the floor and moved them back around to their back, pulling off the blanket and removing his capture weapon.

In the light of the room, he could see the true damage done to the kid’s extremities. They looked white and pale, with the tips of some of their toes tinted blue. Hearing Hizashi enter the room, he began peeling off the kid’s clothes, leaving them in their underwear, replacing the clothes with the large t-shirt. As he did this, the kid began to stir, his eyes opening slightly before closing again. It looked like he’d fallen back asleep but Shouta could see movement under the kid’s eyelids, showing him that he was just too exhausted to open them.

Shouta lifted his head enough to place a pillow underneath and to place a warmed sock at his nape before lowering it again and moving to gently place a sock on his chest, stomach and groin, knowing that placing anything warm on his arms or legs could cause his core body temperature to drop further. He then took a couple of the blankets that Hisashi had brought, tucking them around the boy’s body, pinning his arms into his body and forming a cocoon around him to trap warmth.

“I’m going to be watching over him tonight, in case he wakes up and for when the socks need re-warming. You can go to sleep though, you have your radio in the morning tomorrow, right?” Shouta questioned, tilting his head slightly towards the door leading to the bedrooms.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to set up the spare room so we can put the little listener in there?” Hizashi gestured towards the kid on the sofa as he began to move towards the doorway.

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be easier for the kid if he wakes up in an open space with a stranger rather than alone in a closed room. Go to bed.”

“Night then Shou-chan! Tell me if the little listener wakes up though. I might be able to help better than you!” Slowly Hizashi moved towards the doorway, in case Shouta decided to change his mind, before disappearing into his room.

Shouta sighed, moving to get his sleeping bag before dimming the lights and climbing into it, preparing for a long night of checking on the boy and slowly raising his temperature to normal.

“What am I to do with you then, Problem Child?”

Chapter Text

When Izuku woke up he felt warm. Bizarrely warm considering the last place he remembered being was outside on the swing in the park during a snow-storm. His body felt sluggish, barely responding to him, like his veins were filled with slush rather than blood and he felt like he was in a cocoon of warmth.

He basked in the warmth for a while before deciding to take a chance and open his eyes to see where he was. The room he was in was dimly lit, the bulb in the middle buzzing slightly, with some light peeking from the cracks between the curtains. It was morning. Izuku couldn’t do anything more than move his head around though, still too tired and heavy feeling. 

The sofa he was on was soft, his body sinking into it, telling him that it was old and well-loved. The sofa at home was hard and stiff, used only for guests and when Inko was feeling kind. When she’d forgotten his status as a quirkless child. His eyes traced the perimeter of the ceiling before he turned his head to the side to properly look around the room.

It was all unfamiliar. In the room with him, there was a table and two soft-looking chairs as well as a bookcase filled with books and little trinkets. Izuku squinted to read the titles before giving up, the writing too small and the books too far away.

Hearing movement on the floor, Izuku twisted his body again, moving to look at the floor. He flinched back slightly as he came face to face with a tired-looking man in a yellow sleeping bag. Eyes wide, he curled into himself, unable to do anything else to protect himself if the man turned out to be bad.

“Kid?” The man spoke, his voice low and rough as he sat up, unzipping his sleeping bag and climbing out of it before moving to sit cross-legged in front of Izuku.

“Wh-” Izuku’s mouth moved to form words but all that left was a strangled, cut-off syllable. The man shifted closer to him, a slight frown on his face as he reached out and turned Izuku onto his back again, removing something from behind his head as he did. 

“Kid, calm down. If you want I can step away for a moment but don’t move.” With that, the man moved away and sat on the closest chair as Izuku continued to stare at him, confused. “I’m Shouta Aizawa. You can call me Shouta. You’re at my home currently. I found you in the park last night and I took you back here. Do you understand?” Izuku nodded, bringing his arms from where they were trapped to his sides up to his chest as the blankets had loosened when he had moved.

“I’ll be taking you to the hospital and then the police station. You were out there for a long time so we need to get proper medics to look over your body. I did the best I could to counter the cold but I didn’t know how long you had been out there. Then we’ll go and find your guardians. They shouldn’t have let you go outside wearing the clothes you did.” Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose for a second before standing up again and moving into the kitchen. “I’ll make you something to eat now, my roommate has gone to borrow some shoes from our friend who has a brother around your age so you have something to wear when we go out that’s close to your size.”

Slowly, Izuku sat up, curling his feet beneath him as he followed Shouta’s path with his eyes. He was confused, the last thing he remembered having been locked out of the apartment and that is was cold. With one hand, he reached up to rub at his throat, whilst the other remained in his lap, holding the sock that had been there. He hummed, coughing slightly before trying to speak. 

“I am Izuku.” His voice came out as a raspy whisper, vastly different from his previous tone. Izuku continued to murmur to himself as he relaxed more, sinking back into the sofa as his hand returned to his lap. Soon Shouta returned, holding a mug of miso soup.

“It isn’t the best but it should do until you get home.” As he accepted the mug, Izuku noticed that some of the tips of his fingers were starting to blister and that, in some areas, he couldn’t feel the warmth of the mug. The soup was warm in his mouth and when he swallowed he could feel its path down to his stomach. He huddled over the mug, inhaling the familiar scent and soaking up any warmth he could from the slight steam.

Shouta watched the kid for a few minutes until he heard a knock on the door. “That’s going to be my roommate Hizashi.” He groaned, joints creaking slightly as he pushed himself up and out of the chair, a long night of lying awake on the floor doing little to help. 

Strangely, Hizashi was quiet when Shouta opened the door, the blond entering silently and going straight to the kitchen. “I’m surprised you’re not yelling and introducing yourself to the kid,” Shouta commented, taking the bag Hizashi was holding and placing it on the table to look through later on before turning back to face his friend.

“Well… I thought he was still sleeping and I’m also kinda worried about frightening the little listener, y’know? He looks so small…” Hizashi trailed off before beaming at Shouta. “That doesn’t matter though! I’m guessing he’s woken up? Have you gotten anything out of him? Has he told you anything?” 

Shouta sighed as his friend barraged him with questions before finally putting a hand up as Hizashi’s voice began to increase in volume. “Quiet. He’s literally one room away and can probably hear everything that you’re saying but the answer to most of your questions is no.” He drawled before turning towards the doorway. “So, did you want to meet him then?”

Izuku could hear Shouta and the other man talking in the kitchen - talking about him - and he was a bit curious. Firstly, as to who they were and secondly, why they seemed to care so much about him. Well, the second was fairly obvious: they didn’t know he was quirkless. Lost in his thoughts, Izuku started slightly, tensed and squeezed his eyes shut when the other man - not Shouta - moved into his line of vision, a wide grin on his face.

“Heya there little listener, how are we doing?” The man’s voice was soothing and familiar to Izuku, causing him to peel open an eye to look at him. He could barely recognise him without his hero outfit on but Izuku was sure that the man in from of him was Present Mic . Izuku’s other eye snapped open and his mouth opened slightly in awe. He was in front of a Pro Hero . Slowly, Izuku began to relax again, his mind subconsciously equating the man with safety.

Noticing the kid’s eyes open, Hizashi crouched down to attempt to speak to him again. “Hey kiddo, what’s your name? Are you able to tell me? I’m Yamada Hizashi but you can just call me Hizashi!” Izuku’s hands gripped tighter onto the empty mug as he tried to force his name out from where it was stuck in his throat.

“Izu-” He choked out, his voice fading out on the second syllable. The blond-haired man frowned slightly, noticing the way the kid’s voice cut out like he wasn’t usually allowed to speak.

“Nice to meet you Izu!” Hizashi continued, acting as though the kid had said his full name, “Could I sit next to you?” Izuku nodded slowly, eyes following Hizashi to the opposite side of the sofa to where he was sat down. “Shou-chan has probably already explained what we’re going to do today, hasn’t he?” Izuku nodded. “Alright! I’m sure you’re probably scared but don’t worry, we’re both Pro Heroes and you’re safe with us.” Shouta was almost surprised at the restraint Hizashi was showing and the lack of volume and fast movement, but he knew that his friend wasn’t as dense as he portrayed himself to be.

Seeing as he seemed to be a calming presence for the newly dubbed ‘Izu’, Shouta took the mug from where the boy had left it - having stopped clutching it soon after Hizashi began talking to him, putting it down on the arm of the sofa - and went into the kitchen to look through the bag that Hizashi had brought. Inside, Hizashi had brought back a pair of jeans and a t-shirt - both of which Shouta could see were going to be too big for the kid - as well as a pair of shoes that seemed like they would fit if he bundled about five layers of socks beforehand.  Then again, he didn’t really expect the Iida’s to have anything close to Izu’s size, considering both their physical mutations and just the fact that Iida kids were really damn tall and stringy for no reason.

Returning to the living room with the clothes, Shouta interrupted Hizashi - who was regaling some tale surrounding the radio station and someone who called in to the show - to give the kid the clothes. After he directed him to the bathroom, Shouta tidied up the area where Izu had been before turning around to lock eyes with Hizashi. “So then,” Shouta started, pausing a moment to listen out for the kid before continuing. “I guess it’s time for us to take the kid to the hospital to get him checked out.”

Hizashi hummed for a moment. “I don’t think he was out there by accident or on purpose on his part?” He inputted, bringing his thumb up to his mouth and running his bottom teeth underneath the fingernail, “Little listener seemed to be really scared of us… He doesn’t even want to talk to us to give us his name, let alone tell us what he was doing out there and why…” 

“We’re most likely dealing with a case of abuse,” Shouta stated before moving back to the kitchen and bringing out the shoes and singular pair of socks. “I know that we will find out soon though. In the meantime, let’s just get this kid ready to get checked out and sorted out at the station.” He peered outside the window, double-checking that it wasn’t snowing, before standing back next to his friend and patting him on the back, realising that Hizashi needed something to snap him out of his train of thoughts. “Can you get the kid a few more pairs of socks? This pair won’t do to get him staying still in those shoes. You can go and let the cats out of my room too.”

Hizashi moved to do as he was told, taking one last nibble at his fingernails before strengthening his smile and leaving the room. A couple of minutes after Hizashi left, Izu returned. The t-shirt was halfway to hanging off one of his shoulders, the long sleeves encompassing his whole hands whilst Shouta could clearly see the kid’s attempt to roll up the legs of the jeans and roll the waist of the jeans in an attempt to stop them from falling down as well as to stop him from tripping over them. Picking up the belt that he’d forgotten to give the kid, Shouta directed the kid to stand in front of the couch, moving slowly and telling him what he was doing every step of the way as he threaded the belt through the loops of the trousers and tightened them enough so that they wouldn’t fall off.

He then directed the kid to sit down on the sofa before bending down to roll up the cuffs of the trousers and put on the first pair of socks, Hizashi conveniently arriving as he was doing this to hand him a couple more pairs for the kid. (Shouta didn’t really understand why he was doing everything for the kid, but he put it down to the kid looking exactly like one of the scared cats he’d taken in from the alleyway.) Leaning back, Shouta stood up and stretched for a moment before picking up the shoes and placing them by Izu. Hizashi moved closer to him, taking the opportunity to put the shoes on the kid, having to tighten the laces on them more than he thought was possible, before grinning as he stared into Izu’s eyes, ready to ask him the question-

“Are you ready to go kid?”

Chapter Text

By all means, Izuku was not ready to go, but that didn’t stop him from nodding his head, eager to please the people who had been so nice to him for the short time he’d been there. Wiggling his feet in the shoes, he stood up, taking the hand Hizashi was holding out to him and clinging on tightly for comfort. 

The coat Shouta had given him to wear was too big for him, the sleeves of it hanging over his own, but it comforted him, making him feel like he was being hugged as he walked. The shoes on his feet were slightly too large, slipping as he walked but he didn’t mind as his usual shoes were far too small for him anyway.

It was sunny when they left the apartment, a stark contrast to the previous night, but Izuku could see clouds on the horizon which eluded to rain - or snow if it was cold enough. His breath formed small clouds of mist in the air before him as he walked alongside Shouta and Hizashi for a minute until they got into the car.

In the car, it was initially cold - until Shouta boosted the air conditioning on the ‘warm’ setting - but Hizashi sat by him in the backseat, an arm over Izuku’s shoulder as the older man let him soak up some of his body warmth. Izuku almost fell asleep as he leant in, taking in both the warmth from the man and the sensation of another body against his, holding him affectionately with no conditions as he shuffled in a little closer.

He almost cried as the man let him continue, barely stopping the tears that welled up in his eyes from overflowing as he stared unblinking into the distance, his face turned into Hizashi in an attempt to stop the man from seeing him cry. Sitting beside someone and having them hold him reminded him of before his ‘diagnosis’ and the way that his mum - Inko - used to hold him after they’d played, all smiles and warmth.

It felt like it had been only a minute or so to Izuku when they arrived at the hospital, even though it had been close to an hour. Drawing away from Hizashi, he withdrew his hands into his sleeves, the soft inside only stimulating some patches of his hands like he had a thick layer of glue that he’d need to peel off to regain the full sensations. The hospital loomed over him as he followed Hizashi out of the car. 

Bringing his hand up to his mouth, he began to suck lightly on the very tip of his thumb, something that he did since his nails were usually bitten down until they were raw and bleeding. Izuku moved to gnaw on the fleshy part of the first joint of his thumb as he was escorted to the front door of the hospital.

He watched vacantly as Shouta spoke to the receptionist at the desk, asking for an examination for a child in the ‘hero department’ - which was used for both heroes and civilians that interacted with them, be that through being rescued during a villain attack or just by being brought in by a Pro Hero as Izuku was. The last time Izuku remembered going to a hospital was when he’d fractured his wrist after he’d gotten in the way of his mother. It had been an accident and for a few days after the incident, she was incredibly attentive and loving towards him. Sometimes he thought that it wouldn't be that bad to be hurt like that if it got her to show him the love that he craved. It was why he was always ready to do anything for her, anything she wanted if only she showed him the slightest hint of affection.

Hizashi pulled the kid in closer, gently removing his hand from his mouth and wincing slightly as he saw the damage Izu had done to himself subconsciously. The kid burrowed into his side as Shouta finished talking to the receptionist, receiving a black pass to the ‘HeViCi Check’ area of the hospital, specifically for people brought in by Pros or from villain attacks as well as pros themselves with minor injuries after showing her his ID card.

The dark-haired man walked back to the pair, noticing Izu’s distress and wordlessly gesturing over to the left instead of speaking and startling the boy. Hizashi guided Izu as Shouta began to walk towards the large automatic door marked ‘HVC’, continuing to hold him close as his friend scanned the card he was given by the receptionist, allowing the door to swing open. The large room they entered was almost identical to the one they had been in before, with another receptionist whom Shouta walked up to, Hizashi following closer this time, Izu still tucked into his side.

Shouta placed down both the black card and his ID on the counter in front of the receptionist as she smiled at him, gesturing for him to wait a moment as she continued to type on her computer. “Hi there, what can I help you with?” The woman’s antenna bounced slightly as she turned to face them, taking the black card and returning it to a slot in her desk, before taking the ID and turning back to her computer to log it. 

“We’re here for a section two check-up for the kid, Pro-hero Eraserhead and Present Mic with a civilian” Hizashi moved closer to stand next to him as the other man spoke, once again bringing Izu with him, the kid disconnected from his surroundings. The woman nodded as she slid the ID back over the counter, smiling at them before directing them.

“Follow the signs to the CivResc, they’re over towards the left, and go into room seven,  please don’t hesitate to come back if you can’t find the room. Someone should be with you shortly after you get there.”

Following her directions, the group found the room. It was small, with a bed in the centre, a few chairs and a desk in the furthest corner with a computer. Shouta took Izu from Hizashi, helping the boy up onto the bed as they both sat down beside him, worried eyes flitting between the boy on the bed and the door. A couple of minutes after they entered, a short blue-haired man entered the room, smiling comfortingly at the occupants. 

“Hello, I’m Tetsuya Mizuno and I’ll be your medic for today. I heard this was a civilian check-up so could you please tell me the issue?” The man held his hand out to Shouto and Hizashi in turn before sitting down at the desk and pulling up a document on the computer.

Shouta took the lead, gesturing towards the boy - still sitting staring into the distance on the bed - and telling the man what had happened. “I found the kid last night after my patrol during the snowstorm. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt but we tried to reverse any frostbite on his hands and feet last night. We haven’t found out his name yet.” The man nodded, typing something quickly down on the laptop before swivelling around to face them. 

“Okay, I’ll check down his arms and feet to see the damage before we call in someone to heal it, could you take his shoes off for me? He may be more uncomfortable if I do it as he seems more used to you.” The doctor moved back to continue typing before standing up and moving over to the bed after Shouta began taking off Izu’s shoes, noticing that the boy had closed his eyes either asleep or passed out. 

He rotated the boy’s hands, inspecting the damaged flesh before moving onto his feet, returning to his computer shortly afterwards to continue typing into the file. “Okay, it seems primarily second to third-degree frostbite with possible fourth-degree frostbite on the tips of his toes. There may be lasting damage on some patches of the third-degree areas and there will likely be damage to the fourth-degree areas.” The man moved back to his desk before pushing a blue button marked with an ‘R’ on the side of the desk. “I’ll  call for one of the reversal medics up to treat him as that seems to be the best course of action.”

Shortly after, a light-haired woman in white scrubs knocked on the door, smiling at the other medic as she entered. “Hiya, I’m Yukiko Kubo and I’ll be your R medic for today. Mizuno told me of the issue so I’ll get started right away.” She moved closer, holding her hands over the boy’s hands and emitting a pale pink glow. Shouta couldn’t actually see anything happening at first until he saw the slowly forming blisters between Izu’s fingers start to swell and burst before the torn skin knitted back together. The medic seemed to have a weaker version of Recovery Girl’s quirk that sped the injuries up but forced the wound to go through the healing process rather than reverse the damage like the elderly Pro.

She quickly moved to his feet, wincing slightly at the damage as she repeated the process. “I’ve healed all that I can but it is likely that he may not regain all feeling in some areas of his feet and hands and he may end up with some joint issues in the future if he’s exposed to such low temperatures again for long periods of time.” Shouta nodded, soaking in the information as Hizashi replaced Izu’s shoes, shifting closer to the boy and preparing to pick him up again.

Cradling the boy to his chest, Hizashi watched as Shouta thanked the medics and got a number recorded for him to call when they found out Izu’s identity so the information could be put on record. They then followed the nurse out to the desk they had been at a little while before to check out and get scanned out to leave the area. “Time to go to the station.” Hizashi sighed as they walked towards where they had parked the car, noting internally that it had started to snow again.

Chapter Text

Shouta pulled out his phone, dialling the number of his friend Naomasa to tell him that they were on their way there. “Yeah. We’ll be there in around fifteen minutes.” He hummed before hanging up the call and forging forward, starting the car after Hizashi settled Izu into the backseat. 

The kid began to stir about five minutes into the drive, his hands clenching and relaxing slightly as if he was imagining that he was gripping onto something for comfort before he brought a fist up to rub at his eye as his mouth opened to form a little ‘o’ shape as he yawned, smacking his tongue slightly in his mouth.

Izuku peeled open an eye, wondering why his hands felt different even though he still felt like he was in a car, looking around tentatively as Hizashi glanced at him. “Hey there little listener,” The man smiled, shifting his body so that he was facing Izuku more. “We’ve just stopped in at the hospital and now we’re going somewhere else to help you. How do your hands feel?” 

The boy started slightly, staring down at his hands curiously as he inspected them, wiggling his toes slightly. Any blisters that he had felt forming were gone and he could feel more of his hands than he could before he went to sleep. “Can you feel things on all parts of your hands and feet?” Izuku shook his head in response to the question, still fiddling with his fingers, systematically pinching each of his fingertips between his thumb and the base joint of his forefinger.

Hizashi frowned slightly before grinning at the boy again, angry at Izu’s guardian but not wanting to scare him. “How about feeling things on more parts of your hands and feet?” He questioned, tilting his head down slightly in an attempt to catch Izu’s eyes. In response, Izu nodded his head, a small smile appearing on his face as he finished his ritual with his fingers and looked up.

Izu felt safe. Both Shouta and Hizashi were kind to him, they even let him go to the hospital to get healed without waiting a few days beforehand. If he could he would stay with them forever. Staring out of the window, Izu shuddered slightly as he saw the beginnings of snow falling from the sky, almost imagining the numbness that he’d felt the previous day.

It wasn’t long before Shouta was pulling into the street near the station, opting to scan his ID and access the parking garage rather than leave his car out and force Izu to walk (or Hizashi to carry him for longer even though his friend looked like he was prepared to carry Izu for hours). As they left the car, they saw Naomasa waiting for them at the entrance, presumably to escort them straight to the room, so they weren’t waylaid by other people within the station.  The man greeted them before leading them in through the doors.

Izu felt a little uncomfortable at first, boxed in between three tall men, but he relaxed quickly, thinking of them more of a wall protecting him than closing him in. The station wasn’t that busy, a few people at their desks, but the majority of the workforce was out, either on a lunch break or on patrol. Naomasa lead the trio into one of the Witness Interrogation rooms - which contained a table with a chair on one side and a few on the other side - gesturing for them to sit on the side of the table with multiple chairs as he pulled out a handheld recorder from his coat pocket and placed it on the table. The boy then watched as the man sat down in the chair opposite him, pulling open the drawer under the desk as frowning as he peered into it before shutting it.

“Tanuma,” He called towards the double-sided mirror behind the trio, “Would you be able to get me the paper and pen I left on my desk? Thanks.”

Izu’s eyes flicked to the door, staying there until it opened and a new man entered the room - holding the requested items - before following his path as he laid them on the table and left again. His head snapped back to the front once the other man - Tanuma - had left the room, hearing Naomasa sliding the pen and paper in front of him. The man smiled at the tensed boy as Shouta placed a hand on his shoulder in wordless support, sensing Izu’s anxiety at being there.

“Let’s get started then.” The detective said, directing the statement towards Izu as he moved to click the start button on the recorder. “Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi on case number 210817 with Witness and Pro Heroes Eraserhead and Present Mic. Witness’ responses will be read out by Pro Hero Eraserhead as Witness is currently non-verbal.”

-

TRANSCRIPT FOR WI - CASE #210817

Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi [DNT]

Witness/Izuku Midoriya [IM]

Pro Hero Eraserhead [PE]

Pro Hero Present Mic [PPM]

Recording start.

DNT: Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi on case number 210817 with Witness and Pro Heroes Eraserhead and Present Mic. Witness’ responses will be read out by Pro Hero Eraserhead as Witness is currently non-verbal.

[Pause]

DNT: What are your name and age?

IM: Izuku Midoriya. Ten.

DNT: Who do you live with, could you tell me their names?

IM: Mother. Inko Midoriya.

DNT: What happened last night? Did you go out there accidentally?

IM: Mother. Locked out. Was told to get a package. 

DNT: I will not be asking any more questions toward Midoriya. The remaining will be asked towards both Pro Hero Eraserhead and Pro Hero Present Mic.

[Pause]

DNT: Which of you found Midoriya? Where did you come across him and around what time? Please say your name.

PE: I, Pro Hero Eraserhead, found Midoriya in Harukara Park in Musutafu in the Shizuoka Prefecture. I found him at 2357 on Thursday the 18th of December in the year 2313.

DNT: Do you remember…

-

The inquest continued for a while until Naomasa had run through all of the mandatory questions, clicking off the recorder to signal the end of the questioning. He stretched in his chair, a frown on his face while he considered the answers to the questions before starting to talk to Shouta and Hizashi as they waited for the verdict from the other officers about what was going to happen to Izuku.

Izuku huddled down in his chair, small hands grasping onto those of the Pro Heros next to him as the conversation between the three men flew over his head, his mind too focused on what was going to happen next. The warmth of the hands in his own grounded him slightly as his mind buzzed with questions and fears.

After around five minutes, the door to the room opened and the man from earlier - Tanuma - walked in with a file in his hand. He cleared his throat before preparing to speak, the three other men had stopped talking at his entrance. 

“Since we don’t have concrete evidence yet from questioning Inko Midoriya, we will have to send her son back to her house for a couple of days until we can bring her in for questioning with you, Tsukauchi. We’ll have a car drive him back to the apartment that’s on the system for his mother for the moment.” The man drawled, flicking through the files once before dropping them in front of Naomasa.

Izuku’s hands tightened on Shouta and Hizashi’s, the boy realising that he would soon be taken away from the first people he could remember trusting. He didn’t want to go back to Inko, back to the cold looks and accidental ‘falls’ and lack of warmth that he’d gotten in the past day. His hands loosened before he drew them away.

Slowly Izuku scrawled something on the paper he’d been given, pushing it towards Hizashi. The man looked down, hearing the paper slide across towards him, and read what was written on it.

“Naomasa? Whilst we get this sorted out and get a ride for Izuku to go back to his mum, could someone show him the way to the toilet?” The blonde asked, standing up and nudging Izuku to follow him as he did.

Naomasa nodded, gesturing to Tanuma to take Izuku to the closest bathroom as he continued to debrief Hizashi and Shouta on how the case was going to proceed. The trio watched as Tanuma lead Izuku out of the room before starting to discuss.

Izuku knew what he was about to do could be considered stupid but between going back to his mother Inko and staying away until he could go back to the house with the nice men, he knew that there was really no choice for him. He had to go.

Once Tanuma had led him to the nearest bathroom - which was coincidentally next to the entrance to the station - Izuku took his chances and ran as fast as he could. In the time it took for Tanuma to realise that he was gone, Izuku was already out the door and running into the city, one place in mind. The older man tried to catch up to him, losing him after only five minutes due to the storm - which was growing heavier by the minute - so he turned back to the police station, cursing under his breath as he dialled Naomasa on the police phone system.

He spoke into the phone as soon as the man picked up. 

“The kid’s gone.”

Chapter Text

Once Izuku left with Tanuma, the remaining men began to discuss the situation. They all wanted to prevent Izuku from being sent back to his mother, both Hizashi and Shouta determined as, from what they’d seen, it wasn’t safe for him to be there. To them, it seemed like Izuku hadn’t even realised the extent of his mother’s abuse until he’d spent a night away from her with them.

“-definitely keep him in custody until you can question his mother.” Shouta finished, leaning back slightly to stretch before lurching forward as the door slammed open, revealing a panting Tanuma.

“He’s gone!” The older man rasped out, leaning slightly against the doorway to the room. “I was leading him to the bathroom and I looked away from him for a moment to answer a question from Mitsu and he just ran out the doors and-”

“Why didn’t you catch him?” Hizashi exclaimed, cutting off the other man as he slammed his hands on the table, all three men having jumped up to their feet when the man initially entered the room. “What are we doing? We need to find him!” He snapped at Tanuma.

Shouta began to pace as Tanuma stuttered out the direction in which Izuku had gone, pulling out his phone to look for places in that area where the boy may have run to.

Taking control of the situation, Shouta directed the other three men to go out to places where he’d thought Izuku would be. Hizashi was directed back to their apartment, Naomasa to a bridge where Shouta remembered there were a small camping area and Tanuma to the park where he’d originally found Izuku at with himself scanning the general area, preparing to join whoever spotted Izuku first.

-

It had been about half an hour since he’d directed the other men to search for Izuku, the storm growing all the while when his phone buzzed urgently in his pocket. Panting slightly, Shouta slowed to a halt, pulling out the phone and answering the call from Naomasa.

“I think I may have found him.” The other man whispered into the phone. “Near the bridge, closer to it than the campsite. I’ll fill you in more when you get here.” He finished.

Shouta hummed for a moment, shivering slightly under his coat as he hung up after thanking the detective. He cursed under his breath as he took a sharp left, heading straight as he moved into a jog, the snow getting heavier the closer he got to the bridge. Weaving between the buildings, he texted Hizashi with one hand, asking him to meet himself and Naomasa at the bridge and to tell Tanuma to head back to the station, before shoving his phone back into his pocket and speeding up his pace.

Soon Shouta reached the campsite near the bridge, spotting Naomasa standing about two hundred meters away from the bridge itself. Reaching into his pocket, he took out his phone again, texting the man. He watched as the detective took out his phone, reading the message before jogging to where Shouta was under the small bus shelter.

“Have you seen him then?” Shouta asked as soon as the man got close enough. The other man nodded his head before responding.

“There is this small structure made of wood near the bridge that I’m pretty positive he’s in. I didn’t go closer but I’m certain that I saw the shoes he was wearing outside it and I could hear someone humming coming from inside it, so it’s likely that he’s still in there.”

Shouta began to pace, wishing that he’d brought his capture weapon with him instead of leaving it at the apartment. He cursed under his breath as he remembered that he could have asked Hizashi to get it before joining them. Hopefully, Hizashi had thought ahead and grabbed it when he was back at their apartment.

The man continued to pace under the shelter, getting more agitated the longer he waited as the snow fell from the sky in thick clumps until he heard the sound of a car stopping nearby. Shouta moved quickly, Naomasa following shortly behind, starting to brief Hizashi on the situation as soon as the man had left the car.

“Shit.” Hizashi hissed, bringing a thumb up to his mouth to nibble at the skin at the tip. He remained silent for a moment before jolting slightly. “Shouta, I know you didn’t ask me to get it but I ran in and grabbed your capture weapon when I was at the apartment.” He slid back into the vehicle for a moment before withdrawing and closing the door again, the long loops of Shouta’s weapon clutched in one of his hands.

Taking the weapon, Shouta wound it around his upper body, the familiar weight grounding him. He heaved out a sigh, shaking out his arms and legs before directing the other two to follow his instructions. The trio crept closer to the bridge, Naomasa taking the lead to direct them to the spot where he believed Izuku was hiding.

The closer they got to the bridge, the more intense the storm became, as if it was only centred there like a beacon leading them to Izuku. Shouta winced as he heard how loud their footsteps were, crunching against the icy grass and snow. Coming across the structure, they all froze for a moment as they heard movement from within.

All was silent for a moment before the hiding boy burst into action. Following Izuku towards the bridge, Shouta cursed as he watched the boy stumble through the snow. For a moment he debated on using his capture weapon, but the snow and trees were making it difficult to follow the child, let alone catch him.

Watching the boy fall to the ground, Shouta slowed to a halt, squinting into the distance to see what Izuku had spotted. The bridge was blocked on the other side, destroying the boy’s escape route and leaving him cornered. Shouta continued forward again, holding up a hand in front of his face in an attempt to block the snow as it increased in magnitude the closer he seemed to get to Izuku.

Shouta watched for a moment from the start of the bridge with the other men as the snow whirled around the boy before he began to call out to him.

“Izu!” He yelled, projecting as much love and care as he could into his voice as he attempted to be heard over the howling of the storm. “IZUKU!” Shouta continued to yell the boy’s name, Hizashi joining him as they edged onto the bridge, slowly growing closer to the boy, even as he continued to back away until he was cornered, unable to climb over the too-large tree blocking his exit.

By the time Shouta had gotten close to ten meters away - almost close enough to safely use his capture weapon on the boy - he realised that the snow was coming from Izuku, seeping from his slightly opened lips in a flurry as the boy shook and hummed. Suddenly, Izuku’s head snapped up, his eyes opening wide and glowing blue as he screamed.

Chapter Text

Izuku knew he couldn’t trust anyone. Who in Japan would accept him and his quirklessness other then the people already discarded by society if his own mother couldn’t? Certainly not heroes. He had taken a leap of faith off a cliff by trusting them and was plummeting towards the rocks below.

The snowstorm had picked up during his time at the station, but he could run far with the shoes and clothes he had on. As he ran, the too-large shoes rubbed against his feet, the skin becoming raw and painful the longer he ran. He was almost at his place anyway. 

Eventually, he began to slow, his muscles aching and lungs burning as he spotted the bridge in the distance. His hiding spot was close to the fairly unused bridge with no footpath. It was almost an hour’s walk away from where he lived  Inko’s house. Izuku had stored food and blankets there for when he wanted to stay out of the house and out of the way of Inko, to let her vent her frustrations on something other than him. When he’d first been shut out, he’d thought of going to his spot, but it was too far away for him then, shoeless and almost an hour away.

Shivering, he crawled into his hiding spot, a crudely made shelter of sticks and garbage that had been discarded within the area along with whatever else he could find to keep the rain out and some sort of structure over his head. The ground was slightly damp from the leaks in the shelter but all his food was safe - prepackaged snacks and other items that were non-perishable and wouldn’t release a scent for animals to be attracted to - and his blankets were dry from where he’d secured them around the tree he’d formed the structure around. 

Taking down the blankets, he leant against the tree and shucked off his shoes, drawing his knees to his chest and reaching down to hold his aching feet in a feeble attempt to warm them up and soothe the pain. He hummed to himself - a tune he remembered his dad hummed to him before he left to work abroad and left him alone - as he hugged his knees to his chest and stared out of the entrance, watching the storm grow larger from the relative safety of his shelter.

Izuku didn’t know how long it had been since he’d gotten there when he heard the sound of footsteps crunching on the snow. Immediately he jolted upright, his blanket falling to the ground,  tension filling his body as he peered out the entrance as best as he could without letting whoever was out there see him.

He sucked in a breath harshly, slapping his hand over his mouth to mute any sound that could be heard by the men he spotted, panic and adrenaline beginning to course through his veins. Seeing them freeze, he realised that the men knew where he was and that he had to leave immediately . 

Thinking quickly, Izuku jumped up, choosing to knock down and run out the back of the shelter, letting his safe haven collapse behind him as he attempted to escape the men. He ran in the opposite direction to them, lurching through the remaining forest towards the bridge, his socks quickly getting soaked by the thick layer of snow on the ground causing him to slip as he stumbled onto the concrete path of the bridge.

Izuku continued to run, before stopping and skidding into the middle of the bridge, tripping onto his hands and knees as he realised his escape route was blocked off - the other side of the bridge blocked by a fallen tree. Quickly he turned around, stumbling to his feet as he watched the trio standing at the start of the bridge slow to a halt around fifty meters away.

He began to hum urgently while he scratched at his hands, the vibration of his throat and lips and the slight stinging in his fingers calming him down slightly as the snow seemed to start to surround him like he was in the eye of a tornado of snow. Izuku could barely hear Shouta and Hizashi attempting to talk to him as the trio began to walk onto the bridge, moving in on him as he slowly backed away, his eyes darting from Shouta to Hizashi to Naomasa and back, his body beginning to be numb to the snow surrounding him.

Izuku would not go back. Not if he had to go back to his mother Inko with her words and lack of warmth when he had felt and experienced how it was to have people who wanted him and gave him warmth even when he was only there for a short moment. 

He would rather die like Inko had wanted than have that stripped away from him.

The boy began to hyperventilate, a cool sensation moving from his stomach up to his throat, almost burning as his breath began to turn to snowflakes before his eyes, the matter seamlessly blending with the snow surrounding him as he continued to move back until his back was pressed against the tree.

He watched the trio draw closer as he sunk to the floor, sitting on his rear with his knees pulled up to his chest as he rocked slightly, still humming and trying to calm himself down. Izuku felt like a trapped animal in a cage, about to be taken somewhere he would be punished for running away and escaping. He felt like he had felt back in Inko’s house when she locked him in his room and he could hear her moving around outside. He felt like when he heard her outside the door, talking to him and telling him how he needs to be good for her and that she was sorry she had to lock him away.

Izuku could hear them calling his name - like her outside his door - so he pressed his hands over his ears, humming louder and louder to block them out. He began to hyperventilate, the pressure in his chest building and building until it reached a climax where it hurt and burned and he felt like he was going to die .

He felt like he was going to vomit. Snapping his head up towards the sky, he screamed and the pressure released as a flurry of snow escaped from his mouth, barreling towards the men as the snowflakes merged together, forming sharp needles of ice. Izuku continued screaming, continued doing what he could to release the pressure in his chest, as he began to cry, the tears freezing onto his skin in a matter of second.

Suddenly, he stopped. The pressure in his chest had released and he felt tired . Swaying slightly, he slumped down onto the ground as his vision blurred. The final thing he saw before he passed out was  Shouta and Hizashi running towards him.

Chapter Text

[deleted text]

Chapter Text

As soon as they began to see the boy sway (having stopped screaming after Shouta activated his quirk to cancel out the newly formed one) the dark-haired man rushed forward, Hizashi following close behind, in an attempt to catch the boy before he fell to the ground. Sliding onto his knees, Shouta managed to catch the boy before his head hit the ground, supporting him before Hizashi bent down to pick him up.

“Shit.” Hizashi cursed, hefting the boy up into his arms with a little too much force, having expected the child to be heavier. Izuku’s head lolled onto his shoulder before the blond moved his face into the crook of his neck, attempting to warm up the boy’s face slightly - even though he did not feel too cold - due to it being his second long exposure to the elements in a short time. 

The duo rushed back to Hizashi’s car, Naomasa remaining behind at the scene as he called the police station to affirm they had found the kid, Shouta jumping into the driver’s seat as Hizashi lay Izuku in the backseat, the boy’s head supported on his lap.

Shouta’s heart raced in his chest as he drove to the hospital they’d visited not even half a day before. In the backseat, Hizashi worried his lip between his teeth as he stroked Izuku’s hair, fiddling through the knots in the boy’s slightly frozen hair. 

The car rocked as Shouta sped a little too fast around a corner, causing Izuku to shift on the backseat, pushing his icy face into Hizashi’s stomach, like a kitten searching for the warmth of their mother. Hizashi continued stroking his hair as he moved to support the boy’s body to prevent him from falling off the seats.

Soon they reached the hospital, Shouta carefully reversing into the closest parking spot before jumping out to help Hizashi take Izuku out of the car, attempting to keep the boy asleep as they didn’t know if his quirk would activate if he woke up. The boy’s head slumped onto his chest as the duo walked into the hospital that they’d only left a few hours previously. Once again, Shouta took the lead, asking for directions to the Quirk Emergence department from the receptionist as Hizashi followed behind, cradling Izuku close.

The receptionist passed over a quirk suppressant band after telling them the directions and checking Shouta’s ID, something that was given to children with newly developed destructive quirks who were brought in by Pro Heroes to mitigate damage to the hospital. After a few minutes of following signs and directions, they found the waiting room for the department, full of young children running around with their harried parents chasing after them. In the corner of the room, Shouta spotted a fellow underground Pro Hero - Ophidian, someone he’d worked with once in a drug bust - alongside a small girl and a pair who he supposed were her parents. He nodded to them before sitting down with Hizashi in the closest chairs available to them.

A small TV was playing some cartoon about All Might in the corner, the stylised hero defeating villains whilst yelling out catchphrases. Beneath the TV was a small mat where some of the children had gathered, either watching the cartoon or playing with the toys, all making some kind of noise.

Izuku stirred slightly in Hizashi’s arms before settling down again as he was shushed, the noise from the room somehow still not waking him. The trio waited in the room for an hour, slowly watching the other children disappear before they were called in by one of the quirk specialists. A tall dark-skinned woman welcomed them into the room, smiling as she directed them to sit on the chairs before her desk.

“Hello, I’m Nakahara Yuki and I will be helping you register today. Could you fill in this document and I’ll be with you in a moment.” She smiled, sliding some papers and a pen in front of Shouta before turning to type on her computer.

The document seemed easy enough to fill out, only asking for Izuku’s name, guardians, age and the quirks of his biological parents alongside who had brought him in, however, Shouta had to send a message to Naomasa to get the information on the quirks and his guardians as he’d not known previously - aside from that he lived with his mother - and he didn’t want to wake the sleeping child. After a couple of minutes, Nakahara finished typing and turned to face them. She pulled the documents towards herself before taking a small notepad and pen from the top pocket of her uniform. Humming, she gestured for Hizashi to lay Izuku down on the examination table to the left of her. Once he’d been laid down - curling in on himself on the table with Hizashi holding his hand as he continued to speak - she began to speak to Shouta.

“Right then, could you describe the quirk to me? Alongside under the conditions which it formed.” 

Shouta frowned slightly, wondering why she also wanted how it formed, having not recalled such a thing being asked when he registered his own quirk. Sensing his confusion, she continued. “It’s just a policy for patients brought in by Pro Heroes as they tend to have more explosive awakenings and we are hoping to find a link between the event and stress. Also, once again depending on the circumstances, we may need to do evaluations for him at a later date to ensure he is coping well as many late bloomers have trauma-generated quirks, especially those over the age of seven.” 

As Shouta explained what had happened earlier on in the day, Nakahara wrote in her notepad, holding up a hand from time to time to pause Shouta so she could keep up with him. Once they had finished, Nakahara requested for Hizashi to wake Izuku to ask him some questions. Whilst they were worried about waking him, they knew that Shouta could use Erasure so that his quirk would not wreak havoc if he woke with it activated.

Gently, Hizashi roused the boy, moving to sit on the examination table with him so the boy could lean back onto his chest for comfort. Shouta activated his quirk quickly before turning it off as there was no pull, telling him that Izuku’s quirk wasn’t active. The boy blinked up sleepily at Hizashi before leaning into him, evidently tired enough that he decided it was worth trusting him.

“Izuku,” Nakahara waved at him, smiling openly as to not startle the child. “I’m Nakahara Yuki and we’re just registering your quirk now. Do you think you would be able to answer a couple of questions?”

The boy yawned, face scrunching up before he nodded, bringing up a fist to rub at his eyes. The woman began to question him about how it felt to activate his quirk and whether or not he’d felt that same sensation when he was younger, however, Izuku responded little, too tired and too worn out to tell her.

Hizashi shifted him back into his arms as Nakahara moved to type onto her computer before asking one final question. “So, what would you like your quirk to be called? You can’t change it unless it is incorrect which it may be, due to the nature of the formation of your quirk.” 

Izuku blinked sleepily before opening his mouth and uttering a single word. "Frost.”

Nakahara smiled, typing it into her document before telling them they could leave and she would send any extra divulgence to Izuku’s on-file home address. Quickly, Shouta corrected her, telling her the address of Hizashi and his’ shared apartment and showing her his Pro Hero ID for confirmation that she would not be sending Izuku’s information to an untrustworthy source.

The trio left to return to the police station so that they could sort out Izuku’s custody and future living arrangements with the assumption that he would be removed from his mother’s custody - with her being imprisoned for neglect or abuse - and placed in theirs. This time, Shouta was given Izuku and Hizashi was driving. Halfway into the journey, the dark-haired man received a text message from Naomasa containing only a few words. 

‘Midoriya’s mother is at the station and she’s claiming he ran away.’

Chapter Text

So! Hi everyone!

I guess the first thing I have to say is sorry for like,,,, essentially abandoning this fic. I've got part of the next two chapters written but I've almost forgotten everything I've written so far in the 3? or so years since I started writing this.

Where do I go from here? So! I'm thinking about re-writing this whole fic so far. I'll actually map out the plot properly rather than deciding to just go wherever the wind takes me (theoretically).

Have my writing skills improved since? Nope. I've literally written nothing. I wrote a confession fic to my ex and then they dumped me so any passion writing MHA stuff died!

Tell me what you guys think? Do I re-write this properly and nicely or do I just abandon it to the wind and stick a grave marker down. I like the concept and the ideas I had so I'm thinking of re-writing after fully mapping out the plot. I can also post the remnants of the other two chapters plus the notes I'd written on them so far if anyone wants them!

This fic is gonna stay in the anon graveyard though.

Chapter Text

Okay! As the summary said, I've decided to rewrite this. I love the idea and hold it close to my heart, but it fell flat due to my lack of planning and unexpected business and semi-falling out of love with the fandom due to some not-so-fun incidents online and irl. But! I'll be posting a re-write once I've fully mapped out the plot and decided where and how far it will go.

I wasn't sure if anyone wanted these but below will be the parts of both chapter 9 and 10 (which I was writing to happen simultaneously) that I wrote before I basically abandoned it. These were both written around the end of 2021 and start of 2022 so the writing is just as dated as the rest of this fic.

Chapter 9

Naomasa wasn't at the front desk when the woman came in but he was quickly called over by Genko when she told them her name, the officer recognising the name as the station had been buzzing about the boy since his escape out the door.

He didn't know what he expected her to look like, but he hadn't expected to see a short, plump, green-haired woman with teary eyes sitting in the station's waiting room. She looked innocent and kind but that didn't decide him, he'd seen people just as innocent-seeming be the perpetrators of an array of crimes, from shoplifting to murder. 

As soon as she noticed him, it was as if a button had been pressed or a switch had been flipped as her face crumpled, the tears beginning to start to drip down her cheeks. She rushed forwards to him, reaching out and clasping one of his hands between her own as she sobbed, mumbling over and over about ‘her baby’ being ‘missing’.

“Miss, please calm down,” Naomasa began, peeling her hands away from his before guiding her into the small room adjacent to the waiting room, where he knew the CCTV was constantly monitoring, and sitting her down on the soft sofa seat next to the coffee table. “Let me get you some tissues, get yourself a cup of water,” He continued, gesturing to the water cooler in the corner of the room before he left her to grab the station’s box of tissues.

On his way back to the room, his phone buzzed as he received a text message from Shouta telling him that they were on their way. He sent a quick message back to them - informing them of the elder Midoriya’s presence in the station - before pocketing his phone again and returning to the waiting room. Then, he set the box of tissues down and waited alongside Ms Midoriya. 

After ten minutes, Naomasa’s phone buzzed with a text message from Shouta, telling him that they were just outside the station. Standing up, he left the room, telling Ms Midoriya that he would return shortly, and met the trio in the lobby. Hizashi was carrying the green-headed child who was dozing as Shouta stood next to them, frowning as he looked around the police station.

“Is she here?” Shouta questioned, taking a quick glance at his husband and the child in his arms. Naomasa could see the tension in his shoulders as he waited for a response. 

“She is.” He watched the men frown, Hizashi hugging the boy in his arms slightly closer to his chest. “Do-

Chapter 10

Izuku was incredibly confused. The last thing he'd remembered was running from the police station after he'd heard them talking about returning him to his mother, and then, the sensation of coolness on his limbs and throat, as if he'd dipped them in lukewarm water and drunk ice-cold water on a sunny day, before a stabbing pain in his head. Now, he was on some kind of table in a clean, white, sterile room with someone holding his hand. He flexed his own slightly as the hand left his and he was shaken gently.

"Izuku," The man said as he began to blink open his eyes, screwing up his face as the man then shifted his body so that he could lean on him for support. He recognised the voice but couldn't quite place it until he opened his eyes and recognised Shouta, deducing that Hizashi was behind him.

Leaning back, Izuku blinked up at the man behind him before drawing his attention to the woman in front of him.

"Izuku," she smiled, leaning forwards slightly and introducing herself to him before starting to question him about his quirk.

He yawned, feeling fuzzy and not-quite-there, before rubbing his eyes and answering her questions, briefly describing the way in which the pressure built up in his chest and how it burned and hurt and he was scared he was dying because he'd never felt it before, forcing the words out. Once he'd finished answering the questions, Izuku snuggled into Hizashi, ready to go back to sleep. 

Nakahara smiled at him once more as she began to type on her computer, asking him one final question. Izuku wavered for a moment, not fully thinking as he opened his mouth to reply - "Frost." - before closing his eyes again as the adults continued to speak, drifting between sleep and awakeness.

He felt himself being lifted off the table and into someone’s arms - most likely Hizashi’s - as he drifted back to sleep, still reeling from the events that had occurred, but feeling safer than he’d felt in years in the company of the two men.

---

“My baby! You’ve found him!”

Waking up to his mother’s Inko’s voice wasn’t what he had thought would happen when he drifted off to sleep in the hospital room. He hadn’t really been thinking anything, actually, but if he was, that was one thing that he wouldn’t have thought of even though it was logical, after all, he was quickly realising that she liked to keep up a facade and not reporting her missing child or attempting to look for them would be a huge red flag. Absentmindedly, he brushed any thoughts to the side, instead deciding to relish in any attention he was going to get.

The sofa he was laying on was hard and the bright white lights burned into his retina as he sat up, bracing himself as he heard footsteps thumping towards him. Inko crashed into him, clutching him tight to her body as she repeated his name over and over, acting as if she hadn’t shut him out of the house a day prior. 

Leaning back, she cupped his face, squishing in his cheeks and staring him in the eyes, as if attempting to tell him telepathically to say nothing and go home with her (like he always would when he was younger and Mitsuki asked him how he’d been injured when he’d been dropped over to play with Kacchan). He broke eye contact with her quickly, looking down and then to the side where Shouta had moved to stand beside him. 

“Hello, Ma’am.” The man began, pausing for a moment to allow the woman to stand before he continued to address her.

Inko sniffed, releasing Izuku before standing up, allowing the boy to hide behind the leg of the Pro Hero. “Yes, that’s me.” She responded, sniffing again as she patted at her eyes with a crumpled tissue from her pocket.

ANYWAY that is it. Sorry for the messiness of all this and hopefully! The rewrite will be much smoother as, whilst I haven't written for MHA since 2022, I have been writing for other fandoms so hopefully my writing has improved. 

There will likely be one final update in a couple months with a link to the re-write once I've sorted it all out.